Certain types of antidepressants may put people at an increased risk for developing a deadly superbug infection, a new study suggested.

Researchers from the University of Michigan revealed that individuals who suffer from depression and those taking antidepressants such as mirtazapine and fluoxetine had a much higher chance of contracting Clostridium difficile infection (CDI)  a life threatening infection that can cause severe diarrhea and inflammation of the colon.

One of the most common infections acquired by patients at hospitals, C. difficile has been occurring with more and more frequency, resulting in the deaths of 14,000 individuals in the United States each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control Prevention.

The rise of CDIs is often attributed to the overuse of antibiotics in health care facilities. While these medications destroy harmful bacteria responsible for illness, they also destroy protective bacteria in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract  leaving individuals vulnerable to C. difficile bacteria lurking on foods, surfaces and objects contaminated by infected feces.

People knew (C. diff) was associated with hygiene factors, so its important to wash your hands and keep things clean (when in the hospital), lead author Dr. Mary Rogers, research director of the patient safety and enhancement program at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, told FoxNews.com. But I was also given the charge of looking at other patient-related factors so that maybe we could predict and prevent transmission....

Strange that one SSRI would do this and not others...not even a tendency. Most of the SSRIs are more alike than different. I would like to see this study replicated elsewhere and perhaps with better controls.

No, it isn’t. I was going to say that most patients on mirtazapine would sleep through it anyway. I had considered taking it at one time but the tendency to go on food binges scared me off. You’re lucky if you don’t have to deal with that.

I eat a little too much and have gained weight but it's leveled off. It's nice to have an appetite again.

Best you don't take any of that stuff if you can get along without it. I'll see if I can quit that drug and my stomach problems will get better. My daughter has the exact same thing. My other daughter takes the f drug. And she's gained too much weight. I don't cook much but we love that Jello flan.

During difficult times, I dip my hands in some diluted bleach in addition to washing with soap, also after handling raw chicken.

If even the tricyclics and tetracyclics sour on you give SAM-e a try. OTC here; prescription in northern Europe; a couple studies showed comparable effectiveness as antidepressant, but is not a hypnotic so won’t help with insomnia for most people. I take it and the only issue is the cost especially when I take an adequate dose (800 mg).

Maybe I could ask about that OTC European drug, will jot it down. I'm skittish about any new med after some of the horrible reactions I've had. I don't know which was worse, the shot, the MAO inhibitor, celexa or Lexapro.

I took imipramine for years and years, only half worked but half is better than none. It quit working.

I'm tired of taking all that stuff but I would have acute episodes in my 30's due to an unhappy marriage. I've always thought that if it weren't for these meds, I would have spent most of my life in a mental hospital. And it would have been shorter.

I've been though h*** this past year. My son killed himself on Dec 5, 2012. Some days my mood is stable as long as I keep busy. The minute my mind starts to wander, it's like everything I worked for and struggled for was for nothing and I miss my son so bad.

He left $1.5 mil life insurance, and changed the beneficiaries to my daughters. His wife is contesting it. I can't stand to look at her knowing it was because of her but I ache for the little 3-year-old son he left behind.

I have to go on and don't know if I'll ever see him again. His last words were he was done with me because I called the police trying to get him locked up long enough so he wouldn't kill himself.

I kind of blame myself for passing the family gene onto him only they said he was a little bi polar. Well, I am, too, but nobody accused me of that yet. I have depression, anxiety, disthymia, and OCD.

Department of Psychiatry, University Cattolica Sacro Cuore School of Medicine, Rome, Italy. Abstract

INTRODUCTION:

S-adenosyl-l-methionine (SAMe) is a naturally-occurring substance which is a major source of methyl groups in the brain.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: We conducted a meta-analysis of the studies on SAMe to assess the efficacy of this compound in the treatment of depression compared with placebo and standard tricyclic antidepressants.

RESULTS: Our meta-analysis showed a greater response rate with SAMe when compared with placebo, with a global effect size ranging from 17% to 38% depending on the definition of response, and an antidepressant effect comparable with that of standard tricyclic antidepressants.

CONCLUSION: The efficacy of SAMe in treating depressive syndromes and disorders is superior with that of placebo and comparable to that of standard tricyclic antidepressants. Since SAMe is a naturally occurring compound with relatively few side-effects, it is a potentially important treatment for depression.

No surprise. Your body has to cope with every single thing you ingest. Why take any drugs at all? Or “ask your doctor if you need...” anything? We’re so brainwashed by tv ads, etc, that we just accept all this stuff without questioning the effects they have. I’m not surprised that antidepressants can cause bigtime disease, or at least contribute to the grungies growing in your system.

Prescription drug addiction has surpassed addiction to illegal drugs within the last year or so. Please be careful what you put in your system.

SAM-e also helps with liver function and joint pain associated with inflammation. I wouldn’t qualify it as an antidepressant so much as a mood stabilizer. That may be splitting hairs, but it’s a distinction in my mind. I’ve taken SAM-e before and found it useful for lower back pain as well as for a sense of calm and well-being through some personally difficult times.

It’s worth a try before going the SSRI or other prescription antidepressant route, no side effects have been noted and I didn’t experience any. I did, however, with St. John’s Wort. Bitter, metallic taste in my mouth after a few weeks of taking it, and it didn’t so much stabilize mood as elevate it, sort of hyper actually. I’ve at least partially blamed St. John’s Wort for a bout of panic attacks, sonething I’d never experienced before and not since. Very unpleasant, panic attacks.

I, too, had difficulties with St. John’s Wort, and with 5-HTP as well. So much so that it was a real possibility the cops were going to make a personal visit with a disturbing the peace greeting card (marked agitation during the ramp-on period with both) and this happened also with one SSRI. Problems during down-titration as well. No such problems noted with SAM-e over several administration regimens and in my experience efficacy was about equal to the SSRIs, like in the studies. What I am curious to find out is if Sammy “poops out” after a year like the SSRIs do for me. I have never taken it that long continuously. Some people don’t know you really need SAM-e in an enteric coated capsule and those purchasing SAM-e bulk powder are wasting their money (way too reactive with water and subject to degradation to even make it out of the manufacturing facility with full potency).

Incidentally, GABA works well as a mood stabilizer for me but I am still experimenting with the dosage (500mg/day for now).

Meant to add — Although I’ve only experienced one full-blown panic attack (one’s quite enough, thank you), a relative had ongoing problems. About as bad as anything you can think of during that sheer terror phase. I remember the impending sense of doom also. Much worse (100x) than the usual worrying about Obamacare or something like that. I use Kava for anxiety control when necessary — have on and off for 15 years — and it is effective.

I don’t know your views on God but prayer turned out to be the biggest help of all. The peace of God was the answer for me. I still take dietary supplements but haven’t needed anything for depression or anxiety since 2008. Didn’t need any before that year either but I was laboring under the illusion that I could do it all myself up to that point.

SAM-e does have health benefits above and beyond mood stabilization though, as I mentioned. I had a positive experience with the use of it, enteric coated caplets from GNC. Should I experience joint pain from inflammation I wouldn’t hesitate to use it again.

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